A Slytherin's Gryffindor Angel
by RM-Keyblade-Mistress
Summary: During the time of the Marauders, Severus and Lily head for their first year of school, but with a young girl about their age there too. Lauren Carter. ((I tried to post this on Mugglenet Interactive, but they won't approve it because of grammar issues. This doesn't have grammar issues when I checked it twice.))


On the morning of September 1st, 1971, a young Severus Snape passed through the barrier separating Platform 9 and 3/4 from the rest of the muggle world. Many first years in his position were unsure, worried, and sometimes afraid, Severus strode with certainty. Searching the throngs of people on the platform, he spied Lily Evans, his best friend from home.

"Lily!" Severus called. Lily quickly turned in his direction, and smiled, waving back.

"Severus! I was just looking for you. I saw some empty compartments on this carriage. Get your stuff! Let's go!" Lily picked up her trunk and quickly boarded the train. Severus adjusted his own belongings and followed her up. Lily led him to an empty compartment, where she was attempting to put her trunk in the luggage rack.

"Here, let me get that." Snape said, as he reached up next to her, and gave a shove to push the trunk in the rack.

"Thanks Sev." Lily replied. "I'm a bit out of breath from earlier. My sister was being weird again... She ran off when mum and dad came down to see me off. I chased after her, but she wouldn't listen to me."

"Don't worry about her; she's always been like that right?" Severus replied having similarly stored his own trunk. Turning to face Lily though, he noticed she was glowering. Severus back tracked a bit. "We'll look, if it means so much to you, you can send her a letter when you get to Hogwarts. The school has owls you can send letters with. I'm sure she'll like that."

"I hope you are right... though I'm not sure she'll like sending a reply back by owl... I wonder if there is a way to send regular post."

"I don't know whether to laugh at your sister, or feel sorry for her." Lily began scowling again. Severus decided to change tactics. "Alright, it's a bad subject. Let's talk about something else." He turned to look out of the window, trying to give Lily some space.

"Fine then, what do you want to talk about Sev?" Lily asked.

"Ah I know exactly, Jack!" Severus replied. Severus had just seen an old friend of his mother's, Jack Carter.

"Who is Jack?" Lily asked. She raised her head, but only saw Severus looking out the window.

"He's a friend of the family. He has a son, Edward, who is a fifth year or something. My mum has known them for a while. I'm gonna call out to them." Severus opened the window of his compartment, and waved to Jack, "In here Mr. Carter!" Severus shouted. Jack smiled and pointed his son to the train car. Edward headed to their carriage, but Severus noticed something strange. Edward seemed to be leading a little girl he'd never seen. Severus was staring at the girl wondering who she was...

"Hello Severus!" Jack called out, having walked up to the window. "That's right. You are eleven years old. How are you doing?"

"I'm great sir." Severus replied, snapping back to reality. "Mr. Carter, may I ask who that is with your son, Edward?"

"Oh that's Lauren. She's my niece." Jack responded. "She's starting Hogwarts this year too! How lucky for you all. This always brings back fond memories."

Severus turned around as the door slid open. Edward walked in to the compartment, followed by Lauren. They both put their trunks in the luggage racks, and moved over to the window to speak with Jack one more time. Severus backed away from the window, giving them some private space. Presently he heard two short blasts from the engine's whistle. Edward and Lauren pulled away from the window and sat down opposite each other. Lauren was wiping her face with her sleeve; Severus thought she had been crying. He looked across at Lily, to see if she saw it too. She must have, because she gave him a look, as if to say, "Don't even THINK about asking."

The compartment was awkwardly quiet as the train pulled out of the station. Lily finally broke the silence, "Hello, Edward is it? I haven't been properly introduced yet. My name is Lily Evans, I've been friends with Severus for some time; he's never mentioned you."

"Oh I am sorry. Yes, my name is Edward, and this is my cousin Lauren. I don't blame Severus; it's really our parents who know each other rather well. I haven't seen Severus in a while now. Though that is odd of him, I don't recall him ever talking about you."

"Is that so?" Lily said, "How strange indeed, I wonder what other secrets from his past he's hiding." Lily and Edward narrowed their eyes as they looked at Severus. He began to blush embarrassingly. "Things are just peachy now, aren't they?"


End file.
